A US federal judge has ruled that Colgate-Palmolive must face two proposed class actions over alleged misleading packaging for children’s mouth rinses, Reuters reported.
The judge has dismissed a similar case involving toothpaste.
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Plaintiffs say Colgate’s colourful packaging and flavours such as Bubble Fruit and Silly Strawberry suggest the rinses are safe for children under six.
They said that this is despite US health guidance saying that children under six years of age should not use fluoride rinses and that children aged two to six years should use only “pea-sized” amounts of fluoride toothpaste.
US District Judge Andrea Wood in Chicago said reasonable consumers might not know where to “draw the line” on rinses when labels prominently feature “kids” or “children’s”.
She rejected Colgate’s claim that shoppers would recognise rinses as over-the-counter drugs and rely on back-label FDA warnings.
Wood found toothpaste labels different because they already direct children aged between two and six years to use pea-sized amounts.
She wrote: “Viewed in context, the toothbrush with a full strip of toothpaste is there only to represent the act of toothbrushing.”
Requests for comment from Colgate and its legal team were not immediately answered.
Plaintiffs’ lawyer Michael Connett said courts have been open to deceptive labelling suits.
“These rulings will hopefully send a wake-up call to manufacturers to stop promoting unsafe use of fluoride products,” he noted.
Last September, Colgate agreed to alter packaging for its Colgate, Tom’s of Maine, and hello toothpaste brands following a probe by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Paxton had deemed the brand’s fluoride advertising “misleading”. After an agreement with the attorney general, the company agreed to depict “safe, age-appropriate amounts” of toothpaste on its packaging and ads for children under six years old.
Procter & Gamble (P&G) reached a similar agreement with Paxton earlier this year. Under the terms, the company agreed to update its Crest children’s toothpaste marketing and packaging to clearly show the recommended amount of toothpaste for young users.
